This invention is generally directed to an adapter for a wheeled carriage which allows a prior art cable puller to be mounted thereon. More particularly, the invention contemplates an adapter on which a prior art cable puller, namely the Greenlee Textron, Inc. 640-Series cable puller or the 6000-Series cable puller, can be mounted by use of vise chains which are provided as part of the prior art cable puller.
Cable pullers have been used for many years to pull cable during building construction. The cable puller must be secured directly to a structure or portable frame in order for the cable puller to be used. It is known in the prior art to mount the cable puller in a variety of ways. For example, the cable puller 20 can be mounted on an anchoring system 22 which is bolted to the floor as shown in FIG. 1, or mounted on an adapter 24 which is chain-mounted to a pipe 26 by vise chains 28 as is shown in FIG. 2, or on a T-stand 30 as shown in FIG. 3.
In addition, it is known in the prior art to mount a cable puller 20 on a wheeled carriage 32 by using pins 34 to mount the cable puller 20 to an adapter 36 which is in turn mounted to the wheeled carriage 32 by pins 38 as shown in FIGS. 4–6. The wheeled carriage 32 provides a distinct advantage over the floor anchoring system 22, the pipe-mounted adapter 24 or the T-stand 30 because the wheeled carriage 32 provides the ability for an operator to easily move the cable puller 20 around the building.
As shown in FIGS. 4–6, the wheeled carriage 32 is formed from a horizontal frame 40 onto which wheels 42 are mounted. A pair of spaced apart, upright posts 44 extend upwardly from the frame 40. A brace 46 extends upwardly from the frame 40 and connects between the posts 44. The brace 46 extends angularly from the frame 40.
The adapter 36 includes an L-shaped base 48, first and second spaced apart legs 50, 52 which extend perpendicularly from the base 48 and a boom receptacle 54 which extends outwardly from the base 48 in a direction opposite to the legs 50, 52. A boom tube 56 and associated nose unit 57 is secured to the boom receptacle 43 by suitable means, such as a set screw.
The adapter 36 is secured to the wheeled carriage 32 by the pins 38 which mount through aligned apertures in the first and second legs 50, 52 and in the posts 44. The cable puller 20 is mounted on the adapter 36 by the pins 34 which mount through aligned apertures in the cable puller 20 and the first and second legs 50, 52 of the adapter 36.
Some cable pullers 58, such as the Greenlee Textron, Inc. 640-Series cable puller and the 6000-Series cable puller, do not have the ability to be pin-mounted to a wheeled carriage. The Greenlee Textron, Inc. 6000-Series cable puller is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The 6000-Series cable puller 58 is mounted to a pipe, conduit or adapter 60 by vise chains 62 which are provided as part of the 6000-Series cable puller 58 as shown in FIGS. 9–11.
The 6000-Series cable puller 58 includes a housing 66, a motor 68 mounted to a first side of the housing 66 and a capstan 70 which extends from a second side of the housing 66. The housing 66 houses the components of the motor 68 that connect the motor 68 and the capstan 70 together such that the motor 68 rotates the capstan 70. A front base 72 is mounted on the underside of the front end of the housing 66 and extends outwardly from the housing 66 on both sides thereof. A rear base 74 is mounted on the underside of the rear end of the housing 66 and extends outwardly from the housing on both sides thereof. It is to be noted that FIGS. 10 and 11 shows only a base 72 of the cable puller 58 which has a vise chain 62 attached thereto. A first pair of spaced apart gripping feet 76 extend from an underside of the housing 66 and are aligned with the front base 72. A second pair of spaced apart gripping feet 78 extend from an underside of the housing 66 and are aligned with the rear base 74. An idler roller 80 is mounted on the rear base 74 rearwardly of the capstan 70. Each base 72, 74 has a threaded member 82 mounted on an end thereof which extends through an associated threaded aperture in the respective base 72, 74. Each vise chain 62 is attached to an end of the respective threaded member 82 on the underside of the respective base 72, 74. A handle 84 is attached to the other end of the threaded member 82. The vise chain 62 is formed from a plurality of links 86. Each link 86 has a pair of chain pins 88 which extend outwardly from each side of the link 86. The other end of each base 72, 74 has a cutout 90 therein into which the link 86 can be positioned. The cutout 90 has a pair of pockets 92 on either side thereof which accepts the pins 88 provided on the link 86 when the link 86 is mounted therein.
In use, the gripping feet 76, 78 are placed against the pipe, conduit or adapter 60. The handles 84 are rotated to expose most of the threads which connects the handle 84 to the housing 66 of the cable puller 58. The vise chains 62 are wrapped around the pipe, conduit or adapter 60; the vise chains 62 are pulled tight; and the chain pins 88 are inserted into the pockets 92. Thereafter, the handles 84 are turned, by hand, to fully tighten the vise chains 62 against the pipe, conduit or adapter 60.
The 640-Series cable puller is mounted in the same manner as the 6000-Series cable puller.
Because the structure of the wheeled carriage 32 is only designed to accept a pin-mounted cable puller 20, the wheeled carriage 32 is not adaptable to mount the chain-mounted cable puller 58 thereto. As a result, the advantage provided by the wheeled carriage 32 has not heretofore been provided for the chain-mounted cable puller 58. The present invention provides an adapter for mounting a chain-mounted cable puller 58 onto a wheeled carriage 32. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become clear upon a reading of the attached specification in combination with a study of the drawings.